Grace Christian grabs win; Golden Bears rule 17-team Spiketacular volleyball tournament

Grace Christian 3, Houston 1

Annie VanderWeide racked up 17 kills and five aces, and Grace Christian toppled Houston 23-25, 25-14, 25-13, 25-14 in a Tuesday volleyball match at Houston.

Kaitlin Cowell (22 assists) and Rachel Thompson (3 aces, 3 kills) also chipped in for the Grizzlies.

Grace Christian travels to Homer, Nikiski, and Seward this weekend for more conference matches Thursday, Friday and Saturday, respectively.

West Spiketacular tournament

The Bartlett Golden Bears were the queens of the court at the 17-team West Spiketacular volleyball tournament last weekend.

Bartlett upended powerhouse South 20-25, 25-16, 15-11 in the championship match Saturday at West High.

Tournament MVP Leanna Atafua led Bartlett, which also placed Pa'ia Togagae on the all-tournament team.

The two-day tournament began Friday with pool play. The top eight teams, including Bartlett and South, advanced to the gold bracket, and the remaining nine played in the silver bracket.

Saturday's competition in the lower bracket culminated with Service's 26-24, 25-18 defeat of Juneau in the championship match.

Gold bracket

MVP — Leanna Atafua, Bartlett.

All-tournament team — Pa'ia Togagae, Bartlett; Mikara Klawitter, Colony; Karlee Lynd, East; Abby Beck, Kenai; Mystery Showalter, Palmer; Judah Aley, Soldotna; Emma Kleven, South; Kaitlyn Hampton, West.

Silver bracket

MVP — Brooklyn Jones, Service.

All-tournament team — Tricia Solis, Barrow;
Annie VanderWiede, Grace Christian; Patricia Enriquez, Juneau; Halavah Clark, Ketchikan; Kierra Murphy, Kodiak; Kim Clark, Nome; Justice Noa, Service; Andraia Bella, Wasilla; Hannah Elmer, West Valley.